Is cabbage high in histamine?
Fresh cabbage is probably mostly low in histamine, but it has not been measured: studies report only putrescine, and the histamine in sauerkraut comes from fermentation.
- Histamine
- Not measured
- Other amines
- Notable levels
- Liberator
- Not on the lists we use
- DAO blocker
- No evidence
What each source says
| Source | Verdict | What it says, in our words |
|---|---|---|
| Other studies in the 2018 review 1 | Putrescine only, averaging 2.7 to 16 mg/kg in four studies; histamine not reported. | |
| Storage study cited in the 2018 review 1 | Chinese cabbage, a related plant, had very low histamine that stayed stable over six days at 5 °C. | |
| 10 published low-histamine diets 2 | Fresh cabbage is not on the review's chart; sauerkraut is excluded by 7 of 10. | |
| SIGHI food list 3 | See source | See SIGHI's own list for its rating. |
How freshness and processing change it
Whole cabbages keep for weeks, but no study we use followed amines in cabbage during that storage. In a study of stored leafy vegetables, putrescine rose over six days at 5 °C as microbes grew. Shredded cabbage in bags and cooked cabbage kept for days were not measured.
Not measured; putrescine averaged 2.7–16 mg/kg in four studies. (estimate)
Not measured. Storage time adds histamine, and reheating does not remove it. (estimate)
Fermented cabbage averaged 43.74 mg/kg of histamine in 5 samples. (measured)
Why we rate cabbage 1
Fresh cabbage has not been tested for histamine in the studies we use, which matters because its fermented form, sauerkraut, is one of the vegetables most often excluded. The data we have are for putrescine, a related amine. In a 2018 review by a University of Barcelona team, two studies of white cabbage reported averages of 6.6 mg/kg, from ten samples, and 2.7 mg/kg, from eight. Two studies that did not name the type reported 16 mg/kg and, from two samples, 14.18 mg/kg; the second also found cadaverine at 6.03 mg/kg. None reported histamine.
The nearest thing to a histamine result is for a different plant. A storage study cited in the review kept lettuce, endive, Chinese cabbage and radicchio at 5 °C for six days. Histamine was present only in the Chinese cabbage, at very low levels that stayed stable, while putrescine rose as microbes grew on the leaves. Chinese cabbage is a different species from the round white, green, red and savoy cabbages most people buy, so this is a hint, not a measurement.
Sauerkraut shows what fermentation does. Five samples sold in Spain averaged 43.74 mg/kg of histamine and 232.66 mg/kg of putrescine. That comes from the bacteria that ferment the cabbage, not from the fresh vegetable, which is why a fresh cabbage slaw and a jar of kraut or kimchi are different questions.
Fresh cabbage does not appear among the foods charted as excluded by the ten published low-histamine diets in the team's 2021 review; sauerkraut is excluded by seven.
We rate fresh cabbage 1, "mostly low", as an estimate. Two of the four putrescine averages were above the 10 mg/kg level that moves a food one step on our scale, and the only histamine result for any cabbage, the Chinese cabbage, was low but not zero. Leafy vegetables are also where the measured results spread widest, from none in lettuce to high in spinach. Raw shredded cabbage gives the crunch of sauerkraut without the fermentation, and cooked cabbage is best eaten the day it is made.
Questions about cabbage and histamine
Is cabbage high in histamine?
Fresh cabbage has not been measured for histamine. Studies report moderate putrescine, and we estimate it at 1, "mostly low". Sauerkraut, fermented cabbage, is a different matter: it averaged 43.74 mg/kg of histamine.
Is red cabbage different from white cabbage?
Red cabbage was not measured separately, for histamine or for putrescine. The figures on this page are for white cabbage and unnamed types.
Evidence behind this page
- Four studies collected in the 2018 review reported putrescine in fresh cabbage, with averages of 16, 14.18, 6.6 and 2.7 mg/kg; none reported histamine. 1
- When lettuce, endive, Chinese cabbage and radicchio were stored at 5 °C for six days, putrescine rose and histamine was present only in Chinese cabbage, at very low and stable levels. 1
- Sauerkraut sold in Spain averaged 43.74 mg/kg of histamine and 232.66 mg/kg of putrescine (5 samples), and seven of ten published low-histamine diets exclude it. 2
- Fresh cabbage does not appear among the foods charted as excluded by ten published low-histamine diets. 2
Sources
- Sánchez-Pérez S, Comas-Basté O, Rabell-González J, Veciana-Nogués MT, Latorre-Moratalla ML, Vidal-Carou MC. Biogenic Amines in Plant-Origin Foods: Are They Frequently Underestimated in Low-Histamine Diets? Foods 7(12):205, 2018. doi:10.3390/foods7120205 (Sánchez-Pérez S et al. 2018)
- Sánchez-Pérez S, Comas-Basté O, Veciana-Nogués MT, Latorre-Moratalla ML, Vidal-Carou MC. Low-Histamine Diets: Is the Exclusion of Foods Justified by Their Histamine Content? Nutrients 13(5):1395, 2021. doi:10.3390/nu13051395 (Sánchez-Pérez S et al. 2021)
- Swiss Interest Group Histamine Intolerance (SIGHI). Food compatibility list for histamine intolerance. histaminintoleranz.ch (accessed November 2026), 2026. Link (Swiss Interest Group Histamine Intolerance (SIGHI) 2026)